Anatome
by EmiNayla
Summary: Megan is an ordinary trainer travelling with her brother, and she thinks life's a breeze. What she didn't expect was the storm of paranoia brewing around the corner. People are missing and no one seems to know what's going on. OT story
1. Chapter 1

"Are we there yet?" she whined, deliberately sounding like a kid bothering a parent. "Are we there yet are we there yet?"

Connor simply rolled his eyes in reply, not bothering to answer her. Megan poked him in the back as means of getting his attention.

"Are we theeeere-"

"Ssh! I can hear them. Listen."

She paused, subconsciously holding her breath. At first she heard nothing, but after a few seconds she could hear faint cries. She smiled to herself and motioned to her brother to keep climbing.

They'd taken off somewhere between Ecruteak and Olivine. There was a well-known hiking trail there if you went north, the mountain range located there a challenge to anyone up for it. Though the path winding up was a pleasant walk, the actual climb to get up the first peak had been more tiring than she'd thought. It wasn't particularly steep but there were a lot of loose rocks and the risk of slipping and falling was an overhanging danger.

Luckily for her, Connor had been there before. He was an excellent guide, telling here where to step and when she could safely catch her breath for a few seconds before continuing. And now they were nearing their goal, the _point, _and she couldn't help but feel excited. She'd never seen a Skarmory before.

Connor was climbing ahead of her, giving her hushed instructions still if a certain place to step was particularly traitorous, and after a few minutes he heaved himself over the edge they'd been aiming for. Rolling on top of the small ledge there, he reached over and helped pulling her up. They were both short of breath, but the sight that greeted them was well worth it.

Rising above them were the mountain peaks. The _real_ mountain peaks, not the lesser one they'd just climbed halfway. Some of them were still far away, but one of them seemed close enough to manage if the climb had been the point of this trip. It wasn't, though. The point was flying above them, the metallic sheen of the merged feathers glinting in the sun.

The Skarmory were magnificent. Megan could count four easily; one in the air, a couple by a nest on one of the far-off peaks, and another eerily close, perched on a ledge much like their own.

"Try to stay still", Connor whispered to her, and she nodded. She knew sudden movements were threatening to the large birds, and she had enough common sense to not want to aggravate any of them. Instead she simply stared, awed by the one in flight, amazed at how such a heavy-looking bird could move so easily.

The one closest to them let out a sharp drill of warning. Megan jumped slightly at the sound, but Connor seemed unfazed. With slow movements he got his camera out, lifted it to his eyes and snapped a picture.

The sound seemed enlarged in the tense silence between the two humans and the steel-like bird. The Skarmory gave a small cry and Megan felt nervous, but the pokémon didn't move, just regarded them with cold predator eyes.

"You don't want us any harm, do you", Connor said softly, and Megan thought it was mostly meant to calm her. Even if she hadn't been there, though, he probably would've kept up the one-sided conversation. He always did. "Nah, you don't. So it's okay if I take another picture, right? You're a beauty, you know…"

The Skarmory clicked its beak, and then took flight. Megan could hear the images being taken as it flew, and thought that if they captured only half of the Skarmory's nature, that'd be enough to last anyone looking a lifetime.

-/-/-/-/-

She was laughing from the sheer experience, spinning around and punching a hole in the air. "Yes! That was _amazing_! I kept thinking it'd attack us or something, and woah…"

Connor gave her a crooked smile as he dug through his back pack. "I told you they rarely attack humans. We're too much work to be prey."

"Yeah, but like, it was like you'd angered it, I thought we had, but it just shrieked at you and then it took off!"

Shaking his head, Connor found the camera bag and put the device safely inside it, zipping it close. "It just wanted to warn us. I told you pokémon can sense emotions, and we weren't aggressive. Of course it wouldn't harm us."

"Well screw that!" Megan declared happily. "It felt like danger and it was _awesome_ and I totally owe you. Again."

Her big brother laughed as he carefully got the small radio out from where it had been next to the camera bag. Glancing up at his sister spreading her arms as if they were wings, he started tuning the device carefully.

Though they were still a bit high up, he could see the city of Ecruteak not too far away, and was optimistic that the radio signals would get through. You just had to be patient and try to not be too annoyed by all the static.

It was a beautiful day. The sky was clear with just a few clouds, the sun giving just a little too much warmth but no one really minded. Almost dancing a little from the pent-up adrenaline from seeing the birds up close, Megan relished in it, throwing her arms out and closing her eyes. It was so easy finding pleasure in these things. Life was a breeze these days.

If Connor could read minds, he'd tell her that autumn is coming soon and then the breeze would be a storm, but he couldn't read minds so she could be content in peace. Her head was a magical place.

She snapped out it when she heard the radio spitting up the first bit of news that day, though.

"…Az…ea…town, though… in…"

She moved to sit down on the ground next to him, interested in the information. She'd never been before, but a full year and some on the road had made her aware of how important it was to stay updated in what was going on. That and Connor had drilled it into her head. _Stay updated, stay updated … it's important, bla bla yadda yadda._

Connor finally got the channel to work properly.

"… seems to be missing. If you have any information about the whereabouts of Robin Matthews, please contact your nearest police station. Thank you. In other news-"

Megan frowned, turning down the volume on the little radio. "From Azalea? Didn't you know a Robin from Azalea?"

He shook his head in response, started tuning for a different channel. She knew he was probably looking for the NNN channel, since it'd have news on any new swarms and stuff like that. It didn't really interest her. "No, but I know a Robert from there."

"Oh. Hey, do you want me to let Jicho out?"

She loved playing with his Natu. It was a contrast to her own bird pokémon, Alchira, since Jicho was so happy and fluttery and all over the place, while Alchira was a shy one needing lots of encouragement.

"Not yet, I think we'll have to move soon."

"Aw, come on-"

"We should get down to Ecruteak before six, they say there's some heavy thunder coming in."

Megan gestured wildly at the clear blue skies above them, but Connor just raised an eyebrow and pointed at a dark mass of rainclouds in the far distance. The girl rolled her eyes but gave in.

"I still don't see why we can't let Jicho out."

Shouldering his now closed backpack and watching his sister mimic the move, he offered her a crooked smile. "Once you two start playing there's no stopping you." Before she could protest he stepped past her, starting the downward trek, ruffling her hair in the process. She hated it – he knew it.

She stuck her tongue out at him like the mature teenager she was, but he just grinned at her.

"Let's go."

-/-/-/-/-

So there you go! First chapter of Anatome, which I hope will be quite long-lived. I'd love to hear any input, criticism, praise, suggestions, uuh ... pretty much anything that can motivate me and help me improve. I'd greatly appreciate it if you reviewed. (: thanks!


	2. Chapter 2

**Anatome_2**

They barely, barely made it. Almost the second they got through the doors at the Center, the rain came down like a hammer on an anvil. Connor breathed a sigh of relief while leaning over with his hands on his knees, calming down after the sprint to get there in time, while Megan stared out through the glass doors at the heavy drops falling.

Then she flashed her brother a grin, exited the doors, proceeded to get soaking wet, re-entered the building while laughing like she'd heard the funniest joke in history and dripping water with every step she took.

"You're lucky that PokéGear of yours is waterproof", Connor muttered to her while handing her a spare shirt from his backpack, used to this behaviour. Megan accepted it and used it like she would a towel, drying most of the rainwater out of her hair.

"It's raining! I love the rain!"

"I know, I know."

She draped the shirt over her shoulders, not really caring about it being wet. It hadn't been a cold rain, rather one of those warm, fuzzy ones that kinda catch in your throat when you breathe. The clouds gathering had felt the same way, the air practically crackling with humidity.

Taking a look around, she noticed there were quite a lot of people in there. Most trainers must've seen the rain coming and hurried to the nearest Pokémon Center. The TV was on in a corner, the news showing images of a dark-haired girl. There was a small gathering there, watching, but most people just seemed to be relaxing or socializing in the various seating areas around the room.

Connor had set up his laptop to one of the power stations and Megan figured he'd transfer the Skarmory images and send them to the paper he was working for. It had only recently started up – until then he'd been a freelancing photographer. She'd forgotten the name of the paper but these people would call him up if they needed images of a particular pokémon, otherwise they left him to roam as he pleased, letting him send in photos on his own accord. They'd pay him for the ones he used. Simple.

Deciding to get a room for them, she talked to the Nurse in charge at the moment, got a set of keys, and thanked her. Feeling a bit bored, she looked around again, spotting a guy sitting alone on a bench reading the paper.

She walked over, greeted him and sat down. He gave her a look and inched away before going back to his news. She rolled her eyes and left him, instead finding a girl about her own age willing to talk.

"Hey", she replied easily when Megan told her hi, dark hair framing bright blue eyes. "I'm Jess, how's it going?"

They talked for a while, exchanging stories and information. Megan found an interest in Jess, who was originally from Sinnoh. She explained she was only in Johto briefly on a small trip with a friend who was out getting supplies for the two of them and would be back soon. Their conversation flowed between them with much banter and Megan found Jess to be easy to talk to.

"What do you know about that Robin girl?" Jess asked after a while, and Megan was confused for a second before following Jess' glance to the TV in the room.

"Oh, she's the Robin that disappeared? I thought it was a guy."

"I think that girl" – Jess gestured to a blonde girl a bit younger than them staring blankly at the screen – "I think she knows her somehow. Everyone else is trying to comfort her."

Looking again, Megan saw Jess was right. She felt a sting of compassion for the girl, but didn't feel like it was her place to approach her – not with all the other people already there. She didn't think she could do anything else for her and, honestly, she wasn't all that good at the emotional stuff anyway.

They sat in silence for a while, until Megan opened her mouth again. "Why do you ask?"

"Well … I've heard there was someone in Sinnoh, too. From Jubilife. But people aren't sure, because the guy tended to go on trips without much of a warning …"

Megan nodded, listening intently, noticing the rain seemed to have lifted somewhat, the pitter patter on the glass not as prominent. "But?"

"But his family hadn't heard from him for much longer than he usually stayed out, or something. There wasn't a lot of media attention but my friend knows someone who knows the guy, and like …"

Jess gestured vaguely, looking like she was trying to grasp what she was trying to say out of thin air. "I think the conditions here are similar, right? I think they said she used to go away a lot, so I don't know. It seems like a stretch but I couldn't help but notice."

"You mean you think there might be a connection?"

Megan leaned forward in an almost conspiracy-like manner, feeling a bit like she was being let in on a secret.

Jess just shrugged. "I don't know."

Shortly after that, her friend returned from whatever he'd been doing and they said their goodbyes, but not before exchanging numbers. Megan felt a bit worried somehow, but forgot about it when she let Cation out, knowing the Ampharos would like a chance to listen to the thunder now rolling outside. Plus, she felt like she could use the company.

-/-/-/-/-

The next day started out pleasantly enough, with small puddles of water leading the way. Megan was practically skipping along and was pretty much waiting for Connor to _wake up_ already. He was yawning and being generally not-awesome in her book, so she played small games with Cation to pass the time.

They were on their way to Ecruteak now, following Route 39. In the distance Megan could clearly see the mountain peaks they'd been close to the previous day and she smiled at the memory. The fact that they were already on the road again wasn't anything unusual – her and Connor had grown up "on foot", really, and they both felt restless staying in one place for too long. That was part of the reason why she'd decided to drop out of school and instead aim to be a trainer. She didn't have ambitions set high, it was mostly the lifestyle that appealed to her.

That, and it had made her and Connor closer, since they figured out they could keep each other company.

Not that Connor was such great company at the moment. Yeah, it was early, but the sun was shining and the birds singing but he was still doing a really good impression of a zombie. Cation seemed to sense her annoyance and nudged Connor's legs affectionately, and his whole body jerked. She had to giggle at that and petted the Ampharos gently on his head when he once again came up by her side.

"Didn't you sleep well or something?" she asked with raised eyebrows and Connor grunted something in reply.

She turned so she was walking backwards, facing him, and threw her arms out. "I can't hear you!"

Her brother glared at her.

"You're no fun, you know that?"

Normally he would've been at least somewhat alert by now, but she didn't have the energy to be worried about such details. Problem was, she was getting bored. She wanted a trainer or something. Yeah, a battle – that'd be fun, she hadn't battled for a few days now.

"A trainer, Cation!" The Ampharos looked up at her intently as they walked along, his paws getting wet from the fair share of rainwater still on the road. He walked on all fours, which seemed more comfortable and natural for Ampharoses than people thought. They were incredibly slow walking on their hind legs, actually. "Think you can find me one? What do you say, huh? Wouldn't a battle be good?"

Stroking his short yellow fur absently as they kept going, she suddenly felt his muscles tense. She looked up, and as if on cue, a trainer conveniently appeared right in front of them. It was a girl about her age, green hoodie, black hair, looked a bit on the small side, and Megan grinned at her electric type, telling him he must have magical powers. His ears perked up when she scratched the back of his head as a form of reward.

It's kinda difficult to explain how you know someone is a trainer – you might call it instinct. Megan knew the girl was a trainer, and the girl knew Megan was, and they shared this _look _and then it was about settled that yeah, here goes a battle.

"I'm Megan", she introduced herself easily when the girl reached them.

"Angel", the girl replied, holding out a hand and tucking a stray lock of hair behind an ear with the other.

Megan shook it, grinning, and made a joke about how no one ever called her 'angel' before. Angel laughed almost shyly and said that "if you ask nicely, I might let you be an arch-angel." Megan decided she liked this Angel girl indeed.

"How about a battle?"

"Sure … two pokémon each sound okay to you?"

At this point Connor had woken up properly and offered to take Megan's bag from her, after briefly introducing himself to the other trainer as well. Megan happily shrugged off her backpack and watched as her brother stood aside, leaving enough space for the two.

They'd moved off the road and were standing opposite each other in the field of grass to the right. This early, there weren't really any passersby, and the morning was a peaceful audience providing them already with gentle applause in the breeze.

It was a bit cold, so Megan had her hoodie on, and she pushed it aside to reach the pokéballs on her belt. Cation was still next to her. She hadn't bothered with returning him to his pokéball after letting him out the previous night. It was always a comfort to have him around. Though she loved all of her pokémon equally, he'd always be special simply because he was her first. She'd raised him since was a wooly little Mareep barely able to walk.

She wouldn't send him out first, though.

"Go, Psilocin!" she ordered, picking out his pokéball and throwing it to let him out, the same time Angel simply yelled "Persian!"

It wasn't uncommon to not name your pokémon, but it was tradition to do so in Megan's family and she simply couldn't imagine not doing it. Her parents owned several Mareep and Flaaffy, raising them for their wool and also just breeding them to sell, but each and every one of them always had a name.

Cation was a name she'd picked out herself. And just as he was special because he was her first pokémon, Psilocin was special because he was the first pokémon she'd ever caught. She still remembered the little Paras, aggressively defending himself against her attempts to catch him.

He was quite different now, as a fully evolved Parasect. His long spindly legs had honestly creeped her out at first, but she got used to it and that huge fungus growing on his back. Said fungus was quivering a little with anticipation as he was eyeing his opponent, the Persian that was clawing the ground with her ears laid back.

Oh man, Megan had missed battling.

-/-/-/-/-

so there you go, second chapter! again I appreciate any kind of feedback from anyone ... reading ... this, hahah. so please review it'd make me very happy. (: big thanks to **ReeRee123** for the review last time and for being a fantastic beta reader too -blows kiss-


	3. Chapter 3

Man, this took me a while. The battle kept giving me trouble, and I still worry about the length and stuff. I hope it's okay though. Also trying to establish the rules of my pokeverse a bit more. Totally a foreshadowing to keep you interested, this chapter is a bit of a filler simply to show that yeah, pokemon! Hope you enjoy this though.

-/-/-/-/-

**Anatome_3**

Psilocin stood still, taking in the Persian that was growling deep in her throat as an attempt to intimidate her opponent. The Persian was obviously well cared for, if her smooth, clean fur was anything to go by, but so was the bug-type.

The moment of silence stretched on for what seemed much longer than it really was, and Megan could feel both the nervousness and excitement from trying to calculate a strategy to help the Parasect take the big cat down.

Then, the quiet was broken.

"Persian, fury swipes!"

"Endure it!"

Once the commands were given, there was never anything else to do than to watch. In some ways, it could make you feel helpless, since you weren't actually doing any of the battling, but Megan was confident in her technique.

Persians are naturally much, much faster than Parasects, and it only took the Persian a few seconds to reach Psilocin, who was curled in a way to protect himself. The feline leapt on top of the fungus and started scratching into it, but the enormous bug took the damage in stride, simply waiting for an opportunity to throw the cat off.

The Persian rolled off with a snarl, teeth baring and tail whipping back and forth in annoyance.

Angel didn't say anything, probably agreeing with the Persian in regards of stepping away for a minute, to regroup and watch.

"Stay there, Psilocin", Megan said calmly, and though she had a feeling the Parasect didn't really like it, he stayed like that, cowering behind the fungus which worked almost like a shell, hiding his body and face from view, only his huge claws stretching out in front.

Megan looked up at Angel who was chewing her lip, thinking. Then she seemed to reach a conclusion.

"Try iron tail!"

_Shit_ – Megan hadn't expected that, but tried to think faster than the Persian approaching again, but her mind came up blank as she watched the normal-type dug her fore claws into the ground, letting her whole backside spin as the hardened tail made contact with Psilocin.

He toppled over and Megan cursed, but at least her thought process came back to her. A hand resting on Cation's head still, she called out the instructions.

"Cloak yourself in poison powder! Then slash her!"

"Persian, iron tail again!"

But the Persian misjudged the distance and spun around without hitting her target, and Psilocin took the opportunity to land a blow with his poison-covered right claw, slashing the cat on her hind leg.

She yelped but retreated fast, growling again, hackles raised, but seemingly a bit disoriented already. The poisoning wasn't really dangerous, but it was enough to cause dizziness and fatigue. Not to say that the Parasect was unaffected by the battle himself.

Battling has a few rules – but basically, all of them just mean that you shouldn't cause any serious damage. Psilocin hadn't drawn blood, and neither had the Persian done any serious damage to the fungus covering the bug-type. Nonetheless, signs of fatigue could be easily read in both the pokémon.

Angel looked worried, fiddling with something in her hand. "Faint attack, Persian! Try to topple him again, then bite his legs!"

"Endure it! Leech life if you get the chance!"

With the feline still much faster than her opponent, Psilocin didn't have the time to prepare a proper endure – the attack made him fall, his legs flailing wildly as he tried to rise again, but the big cat was quick with biting down on two of them, making the bug-type unable to balance properly when he got back up a few seconds later.

Megan was determined to let Psilo win this match. It had been a while since she'd battled with him, actually, and though she felt a bit worried, it looked like it might work out. The Persian was staggering quite badly now, and when her trainer ordered her to use iron tail again, she almost fell over.

"Psilo! Slash!"

The bug-type managed quite a good slash despite being off-balance, and the Persian yowled before closing her eyes and Angel returned her to her pokéball.

Psilocin didn't look too good, so Megan decided it was best to play safe for as long as she could. "Endure whatever comes next, Psilo", she called to him and watched him curl up as before.

Angel sent out a Nidorino, and Megan knew she couldn't really do anything but watch him horn attack Psilo until the Parasect was out of the game. She recalled him and let Cation run into the makeshift battlefield.

"Quick! Thunder wave!"

"Poison sting!"

By some amazing twist of fate, they both hit – Cation was poisoned, the Nidorino paralyzed. Megan couldn't help but laugh, and saw Angel smile uncertainly on the other side of the meadow.

"Double kick him, Nidorino!"

Still smiling, Megan ordered the Ampharos to use charge. By doing this, though, he had to be somewhat still, and couldn't really fend off the double kick delivered by the Nidorino in any way. He fell, but got up, having to struggle a little before setting eyes on his opponent, who was retreating to a safer distance, his walk erratic because of the electricity in his body contracting his muscles.

"Now horn attack!"

The poison-type tried to charge, but couldn't. Megan saw her chance – or, well, Cation's. "Discharge, now!"

It was a good attack, not requiring much precision, and the Nidorino couldn't do anything but take the damage. However, after all that, he finally had control over his muscles again and when Megan heard Angel call out the command – to _dig _– she knew she'd probably lose this despite that honestly awesome hit Cation had landed.

"Cation! Keep moving! Don't stay in one place!"

The Ampharos was already a second ahead of her, running in circles, zigzags, lines, to try to minimize the chance of the Nidorino hitting him when he emerged again. Everybody knew ground-type moves had a larger effect on electric-types than other attacks, and this is what had Megan bite her thumbnail as all she watched with a nervous excitement.

Despite their efforts, though, the poisoning was making Cation's judgment weaker and weaker, and he stumbled over his own paws, suddenly a heap on the ground. Megan was hoping that the paralyzing effect would hinder the Nidorino from striking the blow, but it didn't, and he dug out right beneath where Cation was laying, in an explosion of dirt and soil and tufts of grass, jumping out and taking the Ampharos with him.

In a blind attempt to defend himself, Cation whacked his tail weakly against the poison-type's face. Megan grinned, but recalled her pokémon before he could hit the ground, knowing they'd lost.

The Nidorino was recalled the second after.

Not much else needed to be said or done after that – Megan thanked Angel for the match, handing her some money. She was a bit disappointed to have lost, since she was saving up for a great ball, but figured she'd have better luck next time. Besides, the thrill of battle was always priceless in her book.

Angel shyly accepted the money and was on her way after that, while Megan yelled another "Seeya!" after her. Connor gave her back her backpack and she started rummaging through it for her potions to help start the battlers' recovery, and an antidote for her now-poisoned Ampharos. She petted and praised them both while she applied the healing items before recalling them once more.

Pokéballs were interesting things – the technology about them was way too advanced for her to even begin to comprehend, but everyone knew it was expensive. In the games and movies, pokéballs of all kinds were real easy to come by, but real-life trainers everywhere knew better than anyone that you have to work hard to get them. Nowadays, pokéballs came with a slight healing mechanism as well, allowing the pokémon to heal slowly over time, which was very practical when travelling long distances without any pokémon centers nearby.

The only downside was the high price, but once you had one, it was obviously near invaluable.

But she had more important things to do than stand around thinking about pokéballs. Megan was too high on energy after that battle to keep calm, and when she zipped her backpack and shouldered it again, she took the time to punch her brother lightly on the arm to see if he'd woken up already. Judging by the way he quickly started chasing after her when she tried to escape, laughing, it looked like he had.

In Megan's mind, life was very simple and all in all amazing. In a few months' time, she'd think of this particular day and a chosen few surrounding it with a desperate wish to be able to go back.

-/-/-/-/-

Feedback is my best friend. If you'd drop me a review with any kind of opinions I'd be very happy. Thanks!


End file.
